Bab al-Shams: Palestinians create “facts on the ground”

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Photo blog by Eloise Bollack - Wafa Images
At dawn on Friday, January 11, around 250 Palestinians erected 25 tents and a medical center on rocky desert terrain near the village of Zaim, establishing the first Palestinian outpost in the E1 area of the Jerusalem district.

The village named Bab al-Shams, or the gate of the Sun, is built on privately owned Palestinian lands. That same day, at noon, it was visited by the Israeli army who issued stop working orders and demanded the evacuation of the site. The owner of the land immediately appealed the military order at the High Court, which issued an injunction prohibiting the eviction for six days. The Palestinians stayed and braved the freezing night with more joining the next day, walking hours through the mountainous terrain to reach the encampment, as all roads had been blocked off. Individuals and companies donated food and blankets to support the activists and Palestinian Authority officials praised the initiative.

Early Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the government was petitioning the court to retract its ruling and had instructed security forces to immediately evacuate the outpost.

At 3am, hundreds of small green lights appeared in the dark. Special Forces, soldiers and policemen invaded the camp and surrounded the 150 Palestinians who had gathered to protest the eviction. Following an assault on the peaceful protesters and assembled journalists, all were taken by Israeli buses to Qalandia checkpoint; six were transferred to Ramallah hospital.

At 5am, the site was empty.

Organized by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, the action was a response to Netanyahu’s plan to build further illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands, specifically around Jerusalem and in the E1 category, which would cut off access to the holy city for Palestinians in the West Bank.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2014-10-16 08:11.

When did the Arab-Israeli crisis began? What is at the amount of the advancing battle amid the Arabs and Isralies? Which areas of acreage are in dispute? Whom do you appearance as the applicable owners of the land? What are the basal arguments anniversary accumulation has apropos absolute the conflict? What concessions does anniversary ancillary apprehend of the other? Why accept efforts to boldness the battle and authorize accord failed? Recently, do you feel the battle can be resolved?

As for your endure catechism (why all efforts accept failed), none of the Israeli governments absolutely anytime pursued accord with the Palestinians seriously. They were just affairs time to actualize added facts on the arena (mainly by architecture added and added actionable settlements) until a Palestinian accompaniment becomes around impossible. One Israeli prime abbot was austere about extensive a accord acceding with the Palestinians, but he was assassinated by Jewish extremists.

" If you can't beat them , join them ".look what is going on across the entire Arab world : poverty,hatred,masses of people getting killed everyday,no future at all , except the arab population in Israel.
Despite Arab propaganda , arabs in the state of Israel get up to work every morning , build new houses , buy new cars , in short, make a living .
Israel is a jewish state , that is a fact and we are here to keep it this way , but that doesn't mean our arab citizens cannot make a good living . they have all rights including to vote to our parliament , the Knesset.
It is absolutely exceptional in the middle east .
I suggest to the arab world : stop your agression vs Israel and cooperate
with it for the best of all .
Hope to have serious input to the above .
Emek

And where do they build new houses exactly? In the ghettos that you zionist racists relegate them to? Name me 1 Palestinian Executive of any major business in israel. Even in the Knesset Arabs are discriminated against, and polls have shown that the overwhelming majority of israeli racists dont even want Arabs in their government. israel is only exceptional in being the only apartheid state left in the world.

And the Arabs are moving exceptionally strong to make sure you are the last one too.